using our brains to save yours

Q&A: Healing, Death, And More

Last week, we posted a new design article from Phinney that provided an in-game survivor’s take on what it takes to stay alive in the world of Class3. This week, we’ll answer a bunch of questions that you guys have asked on our website and on fan forums.

Read on to see the topics we’ve covered!

Shawn of the Dead from our website asks:“Phinney mentions that these ideas are the heart of Class 3. Can we expect the same from Class 4?”

Absolutely! In fact, we’ll be expanding on them for Class4, adding more diverse locations, vehicles, weapons, and survival options.

Jakesawesome from our website asks:“In a real zombie apocalypse there are no health bars, damage meters, or levels. Will there be any in Class3?”

Yes and no. You’ll have a health bar so you won’t have to guess how much health you have, but zombies won’t. While we could have opted to have no health bar for you too, we wanted to emphasize the survival aspect of the game by having the damage you take stick with you until you can heal up. A health bar is a really clear way to show that and to give you clear choices to make about when to retreat or when to heal yourself.

As far as zombies go, the only way to kill one is to take out its head, so they’re not going to lose health from other damage — you’ll either kill them or you won’t. Of course, you can dismember them to give yourself an advantage, too. 😉

Several folks from our website ask:“Is there a fatigue/stamina system that ties into inventory weight and the possibility of becoming encumbered? Does this system apply to weapons, too?”

Yes. Like in a real survival situation, weight matters. If you’re carrying too much stuff, you’re going to get tired much faster than if you’re traveling light. It’s up to you to decide what balance you’ll want to maintain.

The size of the weapon you choose to carry makes a difference, too. Larger guns are definitely heavier, so you’ll want to be strategic about selecting your equipment, making sure that what you’ve equipped fits the situation you’re heading into.

Rob from our website asks:“How deep are the characters you rescue along the way? If they die, are you balling your eyes out in front of the screen yelling, ‘Why didn’t you take me!’ or are you more upset that you lost a gun and some armor?”

One of our goals is to have a deep storyline and rich setting, so it’s quite possible that you’ll get attached to characters you meet. It probably depends on how sentimental you are. 😉

Reidlos Dog from our website asks:“You talk about duct taping a structure together because hammering is loud. Does this mean that building structures will make noise and attract zombies?”

Fortifying an area is noisy business. You don’t have to try to set up a stronghold, but if you do, you should expect that zombies will find you, so do a good job setting up your defenses.

GhostMARINE from our website asks:“Are you hinting at being able to use different materials in creating structures? And if so, would we be able to use substandard material at the benefit of less noise in the construction, but at the cost of functionality/durability?”

Not exactly. The line about duct tape was mostly there for comedic effect. We don’t currently have any options for building fortifications with substandard materials, and we weren’t planning to add any. On the other hand, having people around who know something about construction is something the game takes into account.

Construction is an important part of the game, but we’ve tried not to keep the mechanics straightforward. So building structures will require resources, but as we’ve mentioned in one of our previous Q&As, we’re not making a Minecraft-style game. There will be a lot of options, but it won’t be 100% free-form.

We’ll be covering more details about how building things will work in a future design article, so keep an eye out for that.

Sean from our website asks:“Is there some kind of respawn system that causes you to wake up at your shelter when you are ‘overwhelmed’ by zombies?”

Yes. If you’re defeated by zombies, you have a chance of being “rescued” and waking up somewhere safe. Since zombification isn’t an instant thing, they’ll take you back to a safe place to allow you to regroup before you go out into the world again.

As Phinney implied in the article, though, you wouldn’t want to keep putting this to test over and over. They won’t always get to you in time.

Rob from our website asks:“Will other human settlements start to pop up in Class3?”

Zombies definitely outnumber living people, but you’re not the only survivor of the outbreak. As you explore the world, you’ll probably run across other characters who are trying to make it, too. For example, folks like the Wilson brothers, who our author mentions in his journal.

I’m a Zombie. Rawr! from our website asks:“If you die and become zombified, can you control a zombie version of yourself?”

“We’ve seen how they act, more instinct than thought. And we’ve all seen that look. We’ve seen it in their eyes. Just hatred and hunger. Not one ounce of humanity left. Better that way anyway. It’s not your friend. It’s just a shell.”

As our author observes, zombies are husks — soulless shadows of people that used to be alive. They’re no longer human, and retain no characteristics that would make them controllable.

Lucien from our website asks:“How complex will NPC AI be? Will you need to order them around, or will they act intelligently on their own?”

We’re making an action game, so we don’t think it’s acceptable for you to have to issue orders in order to play the game. Our goal is to build NPCs that behave in the ways that you’d expect them to.

ShoelaceManiac from our website asks:“Will meeting other survivors be random, or will they be scripted story moments like car crashes?”

We plan to tell a story, and developing a wide variety of interesting characters is a big part of that. Like you’d expect in a real apocalypse, the ways you meet people will vary.

Ragnaroktheevil from our website asks:“Will there be specializations for the survivors? You mention a doctor, so can a player BE a doctor, an engineer, soldier etc.?”

Yes — proficiency with different skills will definitely be an important aspect of the game. We’ll be giving more details about how this will work in a future design article about characters.

ShoelaceManiac from our website asks:“Is there a delay between a person’s death and their resurrection as a zombie?”

That’s for you to find out. 😉

And there you have it! Thanks for all of your questions and comments about Phinney’s most recent post. If your question wasn’t answered, don’t worry — we probably have a design article coming that’s going to cover your topic. Over the next few months, you’ll be hearing more from us about stuff like base building, characters, and everyone’s favorite topic: guns.

Even though we’re done with Q&As for now, keep sharing your thoughts, opinions, and questions with us! We may not be able to respond to everyone, but we do read every comment that’s posted. Hearing what you guys think is really helpful.

Have an awesome weekend, everyone!

Emily

PS: If any of you Seattle natives are headed to ZomBcon this weekend, I’ll be there too. If you see me, say hey!